CP+2012

I know I should be posting about CP+ 2012 sooner, but like I said, some new policies are crampin my bloggin here. I'm not gonna rant about who launched what, cause I'm sure by now you've read about 'em elsewhere.

In any case, I still would like to put it on record that Camera & Photo Imaging Show 2012 (CP+2012) is one event I really would like to attend again in the future. I wish you all were there with me.

The event was held from 9-12 February at Pacifico Yokohama. The event location is a lot like Putrajaya, a lot of big buildings surrounding it, and you hardly see anyone on the street. CP+2012 was held in a building that feels a lot like Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

You'd be impressed with the good VIP folks who officiated the event. They were punctual, even when some of the VIPs had to come with tongkat and walking aid to make it to the stage. Four speeches, all Japanese, none of them long, each given with enough excitement and emotion that you sort of get the idea that they were very glad to be there, to be part of the event, and that the event is an important one in so many levels.

You'd be impressed with the organiser. Though there were few documents in English and almost all the signages were in Japanese, they make it up by putting up floor plans and arrows to lead the clueless like me. The ushers were also helpful, they try hard to give you that very spot to capture that shots you need of the exhibition, lead you to people who could translate, and most importantly, give press two hours to properly go through the exhibition before opening it to public.

I went into the minimalist press room, and got some brochures and press kits in English. The managers there also gave me the Wi-Fi password, a locker and key and a URL where I can find more CP+ info in English which was updated daily.

You'd be impressed with the exhibitors. The promoters welcome you to their booth, lead you to the most exciting part first so that you won't miss their most important offering. They too hardly speak English, but those who can stayed with you patiently with the kind of interest to make you feel like you are the only one visiting their booth, and answered your question as best as they can. None of them said, "Don't know?" or "Not sure." Even the girls who were handing leaflets do it with vim and uber politeness, and when they do not understand you, they try again and again to get some ideas of what you are talking about.

I'm glad I got the chance to see all the new Nikon cameras a day before, as the crowd lining up to see D800 and D800E was very, very long. Besides Nikon's activities I spent a long time at Canon's booth, Olympus product demo, the Sony gallery, the Casio fashion show, the Pentax's photoshoot... I also talked to the SD Association and CF/XQD booth reps for a trends story. Some of the journos went to all the booth to collect the cute stuff they were giving away. No pens, no lanyards. A lot of bags, memory cards, thumb drives and Hello Kitty-ish stuff. (The guys in the team dumped a number of stuff to me, as some of the giveaways were deemed too perempuan (girlish) for their liking. Being the only rose among the thorn, I took em lah.)

You'd be impressed with the mainly Japanese crowd. Thousands of them came early, waited patiently and entered courteously. No mob, no running, no pushing, no queue cutting, no being impolite to others. It's hard to imagine the PC Fair crowd to be like this.

The show is not the biggest tech expo I've been to, there were only over 120 exhibitors. But their offerings were extensive and 55 new products were introduced for the first time there. As for accessories, the kind of things you see, you don't get to see a lot of them here, let alone under one roof like that. 65,120 people came to the show, which ran over 4 days, which is 130% increase from last year.

I was tempted to buy some lens filter and those soft silicone straps for my Olympus PEN. But I just could not afford it. So I hope next year I'll be there again, richer not to mention fitter.